Page 74 of Dance With Death

I don’t need to be in Holly’s mind to envision the scene again. Holly wasn’t escaping but was sport?

“And they chased you?” asks Harding.

“Sam did. As if I could outrun a shifter.” She sits forward. “Sam caught me and…” Holly shakes her head. “He was different. They’d both treated me nicely, and it was like something possessed Sam before he shifted.”

Holly’s voice and expression drift, and I clench my fists. If this shifter wasn’t already dead, he would be soon.

“I hit Sam. With a rock. Then I tried to run again, but he attacked me. Then Dash… I didn’t see everything because I was on the ground and…” She touches her bandaged chest. “They fought and then everything went quiet. I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in the hospital.”

Dorian’s silence continues to confuse me. Mine comes from misting anger and all my focus on not allowing the hybrid to sneak out of me, but Dorian… Is this really concern? Why no questions?

“What will happen to Dash?” asks Holly.

I look to the detective. “I’ve heard of a condition called Stockholm Syndrome where the captive becomes endeared to their captor. How long does this take to occur?”

“He wasn’t my captor!” Holly protests. “Dash took care of me.”

I flourish a hand. “My point exactly. Holly, he did not free you.”

Holly’s voice rises. “Dash killed another shifter. Don’t you understand? The elders will sentence him to death. He did that to save me.”

Dorian sits forward, elbows on knees, hands propped beneath his chin. “This guy isn’t part of the local shifter community. No shifter elders are hunting him. Currently, the threat to Dashiell’s life comes from whoever intended for Sam to murder you.”

Holly clamps her lips together and looks at me, eyes wild. What if someone connected to the abduction is in the hospital? Does Holly have other names? More information inside that memory loss?

“Am I able to speak to Dashiell today?” I ask.

“Oh. I’ve already moved Dashiell to safety.” He smiles. “You must understand, the guy could be a target and would be too easy to locate in a human police cell.”

“Excuse me?” My voice rises. “You promised I could speak to Dashiell before you took him!”

“Sweetest girl.” I bare my teeth at his pet name, especially as Wagner snorts. “You often complain I do not support your investigations and that I waste time. On this occasion, you have my full support. I examined Dashiell again earlier, and you’ll be pleased to hear that Dashiell’s account of events matches Holly’s.”

Holly sinks back against the pillows. “Yes. Because it’s true.”

I grind my teeth but say nothing. This is Dorian’s punishment for not telling him about Holly.

“The shifter must answer to a human court, too,” says Harding roughly.

“Naturally. But you are to allow my council to deal with him as well.”

“Deal with?” Holly’s voice rises again.

“Please be assured that Dashiell is more use to me alive than dead.” Dorian’s solemn in his words to Holly, but I hear two more unspoken ones: for now.

26

VIOLET

I take my drink from the café counter and join the others in our now-adopted place beside the window. As I slide onto the booth seat beside Leif, I swallow down the irritation—no, downright annoyance—I brought with me from the hospital.

“Why are you all staring at me?” I ask.

“We didn’t expect you to arrive this early,” says Rowan. “Leif barely finished his meal. Did you speak to Dashiell? How’s Holly?”

I glance at the plate stained with ketchup, knife and fork placed on top, and Leif slides it to the far end of the table. Tight-jawed, I explain to the others what occurred at the hospital, including Dorian’s betrayal in moving Dashiell without allowing me to speak to him.

“He’s excluding me!”

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